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The blonde reached the owner of the office, passionately kissed him and, climbing on the table, capriciously pouted her lips.
" Why should she? " surprised interrogated the "sweetheart".
" She was rude to me, and did not want to call you! I'm your fiancеe! She must obey me."
From despair and resentment, I was speechless, and did not even try to defend myself. The blonde fiancеe was lying through her teeth. I didn't even say a rude word to her.
" She was following my orders and not connecting me to anyone."
" You don't want to see me?! Have you fallen out of love?!"
The girl's eyes immediately filled with tears and her lips trembled. I couldn't help but wince. She's obviously overplaying it. A look of annoyance appeared on Andrew 's face for a moment.
" Can I get you anything? " I asked, just to remind myself.
They seemed to have forgotten about me. I didn't want to witness their stormy reconciliation.
The blonde jumped up, but the boss was ahead of her:
" No need for anything. Go to work."
I happily walked out the door and, closing it tightly, leaned back and exhaled in relief. It seems that no one is not going to fire me, which I can not be happy. But the blonde wouldn't stop there and would try to make my life a living hell.
***
Work in general was not difficult. Andrew had few visitors. He himself turned out to be very active and preferred to meet outside the office. The only thing is that there were a lot of calls in the afternoon. Everyone wanted something, either to sign documents or to schedule a meeting. So the organizer had to be dealt with urgently. There weren't many time overlaps. Just two. And the last one was due to a changed meeting place. After calling the secretaries, I easily rescheduled them.
However, the schedule for two weeks in advance turned out to be so tight that other people who wanted to meet had to either refuse or make arrangements to meet in two weeks. Plus, I put meetings on the schedule. And remembering the latter, I dug into the Internet in search of a decent company willing to organize a buffet in the office.
Camille left about an hour later, absolutely pleased with herself. She didn't even look at me, which pleased me greatly. So the first day, you could say, went smoothly.
As I headed out of the office, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the supermarket. Ramila had bought all the groceries before. She also cooked. Today, however, I got off around seven o'clock. That's very early for work in Moscow! When I ran down the stairs and turned the corner, I immediately turned back. Dimitri stood at the gatehouse, wearing a beautiful light colored coat. He was cooing softly with someone on the phone and promised not to stay anywhere.
My first impulse was to turn around and run to the toilet. Where I could lock myself in a stall and cry. The ex-lover looked like he'd just stepped off the cover of a magazine.
The second impulse was to crack him on the head, scratch his face and make an ugly scandal. Anger demanded an outlet. I managed to restrain myself and clenched my fists to the point of pain.
Dimitri smiled at the world, or rather, at the invisible interlocutor and looked happy. He used to smile at me like that. He spoke with the same intonation, and I believed that I was loved. And worst of all, I realized I was ready to go back to him. To be happy again.
Sighing, I adjusted my dress, tossed back my hair. I didn't want to hide from him anymore. On the contrary, I was going to walk over and look him in the eye.
Encouraging myself, I headed toward him. Dimitri finished the conversation, put the phone in his other hand and brought it to my ear again.
" Yes, yes! I'll be there in about ten minutes. But I can't stay today, I have a lot of work, so I'll have to go back to the office."
I froze, not believing my own ears, immediately suspecting him of another adultery.
" I'm ready to fly to you even to the end of the world!"
Dimitri, without turning around, jumped out into the street and took the wheel of a luxury foreign car, which immediately started off in an unknown direction. I waddled back to the subway. The day was ruined. It turns out I'm not ready to meet him. As soon as he smiled at me and said a few words, I'd believe him. Even though my mind knows that all beautiful words are lies, I can't order my heart.
And yet I was sure that both times he talked to women. Different ones, moreover. He couldn't have told his wife he had to go back to work. As I pondered this thought from every angle, I was once again immersed in a survival quest called, "The Road Home at Rush Hour!"
Chapter 3
Ramila's phrase after I told her about my meeting with Dimitri was vivid and nerve-wracking. However, it could only be repeated in decent society with prepositions and interjections.
I sat in the kitchen, climbing on a chair with my legs, and mindlessly chattering with a spoon in my tea. I felt like a rag doll.
“ You know, it's probably a good thing that everything turned out this way," she said calmly.
I looked up at her in bewilderment. What could be good in what happened? The man I love turned out to be a pig. And I found out about it, when nothing can be fixed.
“ Are you laughing?” I asked in a shaky voice.
For the first time all evening I wanted to cry.
“ Imagine if you had given birth to a child by him," Ramila suggested.
I immediately did what she told me to do, and tears ran down my cheeks.
“Maybe that's the reason? I wanted to wait.”
“ Don't talk nonsense!” Ramilya burst out.” No man has ever managed to bind anyone with this. Yes, maybe he would have gotten married. But then he would mock her all his life. You bet, the calculating predator had bound him hand and foot. Ruined his life! And a wedding is no indicator of fidelity and happiness. He would've kept on going.”
" Listen to you, there are no good men in this world."
" There are a lot of good men. But women love assholes."
Having stamped on both men and women at once, Ramila grabbed my glass and threw the cooled tea into the sink. I leaned back in my chair, not the least bit upset. My food wasn't good today, and I couldn't even swallow a cookie. Just the sight of it made me sick.
" So Dimitri didn't see you, and that's good. See, I was right about you getting a job at this office."
" Dimitri's the manager, and I'm the secretary."
" Dimitri's a jerk, and you're an asshole. The secretary is the closest person to the boss. You'll be with him for twelve hours. Helping him. Cover for him. And as a result, he'll treat you better than the rest of us. Imagine the controversial question, "who gets the lucrative assignment?" And you say, "Julia's more responsible," and that's it.
" Am I gonna get fired? " I suggested sarcastically.
" They'll listen to you," Ramilya said.
I, deciding not to argue, nodded in agreement. I felt resentment in my soul. I loved him so much, and he was just taking advantage of me....
" So, Julia offered you an interesting job? So do it. Don't cry!"
As if confirming her rightness, the phone rang, notifying about a message in Viber. Julia wrote that she had sent me the documents to the post office. I sighed and showed it to Ramila, who immediately ran happily to my room and brought a laptop and a Chinese dictionary.
" Go ahead. Tomorrow you'll hand in the first batch of papers and get your praise. You really miss it."
Having stroked the lid of the faithful comrade, my laptop was already three years old, and it worked properly, I got into the mail. Julia was not stingy on the amount of materials. It looks like we'll have to sit till morning!
" Pour me some tea too, please," she asked, seeing that Ramilya was making herself a fresh pot.
After estimating the amount of work, I suddenly calmed down. Even if she couldn't get revenge, she could just get her life back on track. And the place to start was work.
I opened the documents and reference books sent to me and immersed myself in the text. The case progressed slowly. The text contained a huge number of special terms with which I had not familiarized myself before.
But I began to understand what exactly our company does. It provides support for foreign companies that have decided to develop the Russian market. It sounded beautiful, but in reality it is a huge amount of paperwork. And also in the ability to maneuver between the conflicting laws of the two countries, as well as the wishes of the client and the reality that the Russian market has to offer.
***
At half past eight I was already in my seat in the office. I had to come in early. I had to print out what I had done yesterday. I put the papers in folders and waited impatiently for Julie to arrive. In the evening I sent her a few translated documents, and the rest I decided to give her at the office. And after receiving enthusiastic messages of gratitude, I suddenly felt that I liked it.
To my surprise, however, it was the boss who showed up at the office first. He looked a little wrinkled, wearing yesterday's shirt and a day's worth of unshaven hair.
" Good morning," I greeted him cheerfully.
" Please, not so loud."
The supervisor disappeared into his office. I shook my head and searched my bag for aspirin. Andrew was not the kind of man who liked to drink a bottle. His body was unprepared, so the result was not long in coming. Putting the papers aside for the time being, I gathered a tray: a glass with instant aspirin, a bottle of mineral water and coffee, the latter I put just in case.
Knocking and without waiting for an answer, she entered. Andrew was sitting at the table, concentrating on massaging his temples.
" Aspirin, " I informed him and put the glass on the table.
Andrew , grabbing the glass, drank the contents in a gulp and leaned back in his chair. I doubt that it helped immediately. Rather, the anticipation of relief tried it on with reality. I froze, waiting for further instructions.
" Everything else after… " he said.
I didn't ask after what. It was obvious. First he needs to come to himself. I silently put the tray with mineral water and coffee in front of him and left.
Julia flew into the waiting room at the same time as me. Swaying on her impressive heels, she took in more air, ready to burst into a tirade of gratitude. I was ahead of her, pressing my finger to my mouth. The girl obediently exhaled.
" Andrew has a headache, " I whispered. " And until the aspirin did not work …"
" Oh! Why?"
I shrugged my shoulders indefinitely. I didn't plan on giving away my boss's secrets. There was a reason he showed up earlier than half of the staff. Now he'll come to his senses, assess his appearance and go home to change. Although a man like Andrew should have a spare shirt with him. You never know!
" All right. Give me a hand, please. I need to write a letter to the partners."
Julia made huge eyes. I laughed quietly. Those who have never seen a computerized hieroglyphics layout won't understand. The characters are written on one key, four at a time. It's hard to tell the difference between half of them when you're not used to them.
" Leave the letter, I'll dial, " promised her.
" You're awesome! I love you!"
Julia handed me a thin opaque folder and rushed off. Hiding behind a ficus tree, I checked my makeup and, after making coffee for myself, returned to my desk. The main boss's reception area turned out to be the quietest place in the universe! I don't know about the deputies, but no one came in here.
About an hour later, Andrew called me in. He looked much better, even changed his shirt. I, trying to keep my distance, put in front of him the documents collected for signing and a separate folder prepared by me personally.
" You have a meeting tomorrow. Everything is ready for it, " I informed the boss.
Andrew was distracted from the papers and looked at me carefully.
" I forgot to ask, are you married?"
" No, " I answered dumbfounded.
I didn't expect such a question. Why would he be interested in the details of my personal life?
" Okay, " nodded Andrew . " There will be a conference in St. Petersburg on Saturday. I'm glad that you have no plans for the weekend, and you can accompany me. The hotel is already booked, we'll leave on Friday. You can go."
I just nodded and went out to the reception area. But I didn't expect such a turnaround. It turns out that if I don't have a husband and children, I don't have plans for the weekend either! Besides, who takes a secretary who has been working for a few days with them on a trip?
Feeling that I needed to share and consult with someone, I grabbed my phone and ran to the bathroom to talk without interference. Experience told me that it was better to discuss a person behind his back when he was not around. And the neighboring office under the designation "far away" fell somehow weakly.
Having jumped out to the stairwell, I went down one flight and immediately turned back. Dimitri stood in the corridor and hugged the girl. Climbing a few steps, she tried to listen to his conversation.
" You don't give me enough time, " the girl said capriciously.
" I work, " Dimitri was naturally surprised.
" At night?"
It became clear to me that he was talking to his wife. It seems that their family life was marred by his inattention. By the way, there is such a peculiarity in Dimitri's behavior. At the beginning of the relationship, he was very attentive. Sometimes it seemed to me that he read my mind. But when our relationship became strong and stable, and I couldn't breathe without him, he became distant. No, in the moments he spent with me, even if only on the phone he was so gentle.....
" I've gotten a job, I don't want people to say I married you for a career. I will achieve everything on my own."
Dimitri spoke in a confident and unbending voice. Just a couple weeks ago I would have believed in his words unconditionally, but now it was funny. The girl whispered something fervently. I didn't eavesdrop any further and went back to the waiting room. The more I learned about him, the more disgusted I became. How could I love him?
The interesting thing was that I couldn't find a decent excuse. Betrayal killed love, and the brain kicked in. But so far he'd only wondered how blind I'd been.
I spent the whole day thinking about the stupid things I'd done in my life. Secretarial work was the most boring job in the world. The phone didn't ring very often, the visitors were mostly couriers who dropped by a couple times. And the boss seemed to have decided to sleep in, since he only called me once all day to let me know he was leaving.
***
I was home by eight o'clock, exhausted by the road, I walked up to our house without looking around. So I didn't notice the festivities right away. Neighbors, who jumped out of their houses, were frantically putting out the fire. I rushed to us and almost crashed into Ramila, who had come out of the house in a tiny robe, but with a huge bucket of water.
" What happened?"
" Idiots surrounded us!"
Ramila ran to the neighboring plot, and I rushed after her. The picture I saw was more pathetic than scary. A huge fire was burning in the middle of the neighbor's plot. When I looked closer, I realized that it was firewood prepared for the winter, but unused. A man in underpants, an alcoholic T-shirt and rubber boots was running around the fire. He didn't even try to put anything out, the neighbors were doing it. The curiosity of the situation was that the fire could spread to any house standing nearby. A strong gust of wind was enough to carry the spark.
Ramila splashed a bucket of water on the fire. The flames, hissing mockingly, continued.
" Damn fool! " The friend fawned over the man and ran back.
